Cobalt Blue
by DragonoftheMidwest
Summary: Modern AU: Newlyweds Zuko and Katara appear on a talk show and Zuko has to describe his wife using a color. Zutara Week 2k14


Zutara Week 2014 Day 4: Cobalt Blue

Modern AU: Newlyweds Zuko and Katara are on a talk show and Zuko is asked to describe his wife using a single color.

* * *

Adjusting her new crown on her head, Zuko smiled. "You look beautiful, Fire Lady Katara." She was more than beautiful. Her black dress fit her form just right. The ice blue pendant resting on her collar bone added color to her outfit. Her hair had been straightened in an effort to tame her wild curls, resulting in a texture closer to soft waves.

"And you look quite handsome, Fire Lord Zuko." Katara kissed her new husband on the cheek. They had just returned from their honeymoon on Ember Island. Zuko was wearing a black suit with a red dress shirt and a gold tie to match his own crown. His hair had been restrained in a top knot, allowing no stray hairs to escape. "Are you ready for this?" Katara asked him.

"I'm used to TV appearances. I should be asking you if you're ready." Zuko chuckled.

"I'm not the ruler of a country who has to explain why he married a foreign woman almost immediately after a war." Katara frowned slightly.

"Well, technically, you _are_ a ruler of a country, now." Zuko smirked at his wife.

That earned him a scowl from Katara. "You know what I mean; you're the Fire Lord who married a waterbender."

"The people will understand once they realize what a wonderful woman you are. Besides, they can't make me marry somebody else now. The Fire Lord is only allowed to marry once in his lifetime."

"I'm glad the law is preventing you from leaving me for another woman, then." Katara huffed and crossed her arms.

Realizing his mistake, Zuko wrapped his arms around Katara in a hug. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean that even if the people don't realize how important and special you are to me, it doesn't matter, because you are the one that Agni chose for me. The gods of both of our nations have smiled upon our union, and who are the people to argue with the gods?"

Smiling softly, Katara hugged Zuko back. "Nice save, Awkward Lord," She teased him gently, letting him know he was forgiven. Releasing him from the hug, she took his hand and they walked on stage together to face their nation together. Deafening cheers met them and bright lights blinded them. Striding to the middle stage where a couch and a single (occupied) chair sat, they prepared for the worst.

Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara sat on the plush red couch on stage with talk show host Katsu Ryuu. Katsu was shorter, heavier set man. With greying hair and crow's feet, he was showing his age. He had been hosting his own talk show since before Zuko's parents had gotten married. Back then, Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa had sat on this very stage after their own honeymoon. That interview hadn't gone so well, with Ozai trying to set one of the crew on fire for complimenting Princess Ursa's dress. Zuko had a better grip on his temper, and he was sure that he wasn't going to have the same jealousy issues that his father had. Katara had chosen to marry him instead of being whisked away from her friends and family to be forced into a loveless marriage. Zuko internally cringed at the thought of Ozai and Ursa meeting at the altar for the first time. Almost as if she were sensing his thoughts, Katara reached over and gently took his hand. She had told Katsu a story about her father trying to waterbend while intoxicated when she was a child, so Katsu and the audience were lost in a fit of giggles for the moment. The couple exchanged a tender look before returning to reality.

Chuckling and holding his belly, Katsu turned back to the couple, "Now, I hear that you have both fought Princess Azula? Tell me about this? Were they isolated incidents or teamwork between lovers?"

Zuko smirked and closed his eyes, "After I joined team Avatar, Azula considered me as good as dead to her. She even attacked us at the Western Air Temple in an attempt to kill the entire team." The audience gasped at his revelation, not knowing that the relations between the two siblings were that bad. "She had actually caused the temple to start crumbling around us, and I saved Katara from being crushed by a chunk of the falling walls." Zuko gripped Katara's hand in his, and raised it to his lips for a gentle kiss. The audience cheered and clapped at the story of the Fire Lord saving his wife.

"And before Zuko joined team Avatar, Azula pursued us with her small team for a while before her conquering of Ba Sing Se. There were many times that I had fought Azula before that." Katara's face was a mask, but Zuko could tell that she was suppressing flashbacks from the war. The after effects had hit her harder than anybody else in team Avatar, and she still woke up crying some nights.

"What about the fateful Agni Kai in the Royal Plaza? Tell us about that," Katsu urged.

Katara was trembling, so Zuko cut her off before she could speak, "I think this is an inappropriate time to tell war stories. I was hoping to let the Fire Nation know about the woman that I married, not the fearsome warrior she was when we fought in the war." The air around him was heating as he tried to rein in his frustration at Katsu for upsetting Katara.

"Alrighty, then tell me, Lady Katara, when did you realize that you may have feelings for Zuko?" Katsu shuffled his note cards that contained various questions in his hands. He leaned forward expectantly.

Katara smiled. "It was after the first time he saved me at the Air Temple. We were camping on a small island. I still hadn't trusted him, because of his history of chasing us around the world. He had asked my brother about how our late mother had died, and figured out the group of soldiers that had raided my village the day my mother died. He took me to find them so I could confront the man who had killed my mother. He didn't tell me not to kill the man and avenge my mother, he didn't tell me to do one thing or another, and he just supported my decision regardless of what it was. He understood my need for closure, and let me have it in my own way." Katara leaned her head against Zuko's shoulder. She felt his hand come up to her face and brush a tear off her cheek with his thumb.

"I saw a side of Katara that nobody else has seen, not even her brother or the Avatar." Zuko wrapped his arm around Katara's shoulders and squeezed her reassuringly. "To everybody else, she was a mother figure of some sort. She did the cooking and made sure everybody had everything they needed. With me, though, she unknowingly challenged me to become a better man. Without her and my uncle Iroh, I wouldn't be half the man I am today."

"That is very… touching, Fire Lord Zuko." Katsu brushed a fake tear from his own eyes. "So, if you could pick one color to represent your wife, what would it be?"

Zuko thought hard for a few moments, before thoughtfully speaking, "Cobalt blue. Most people would expect aqua or teal or baby blue, because she's a waterbender, but she is so much more than just a waterbender. She's like a storm, equally beautiful and dangerous. She's dark and cool and strong, like the ocean before a hurricane. She's bold and powerful and comforting all at once. She isn't just a waterbender, she is the living embodiment of her element, and I wouldn't want her any other way."

"So you chose the living embodiment of water to be Fire Lady? That doesn't make much sense." Katsu was obviously trying to get a rise out of him.

"A nation needs water to thrive, and I believe the Fire Nation is in desperate need of her cooling touch. And personally, I couldn't live without her. Agni has shown his approval of our marriage and so have Tui and La. If our god and the ruling spirits of the Water Tribe disapproved, they would have prevented us from marrying."

"If her savage water people worship fish, and you think the approval of said fish matter, then I think you should have gone to the Water Tribe with her instead of ruling our great country." Katsu smirked, not realizing what he had coming.

Katara had been silent during the men's exchange, content to sit and let them make verbal jabs at each other. It was when Katsu insulted her Tribe that she did anything. She gently waved her hand in the air while releasing a cooling breath. A thick layer of ice formed over Katsu's mouth, effectively silencing him. She stood; abandoning Zuko's shocked hold on her and stepped to where the aging talk show host sat. She leaned close to his face and whispered, her voice full of venom. "Says the man whose country slaughtered an entire nation and sought to slaughter the other remaining races just for the sake of power; savagery has nothing to do with riches or luxury. It has everything to do with morals. If I was a savage, I would have killed you on the spot for insulting me, my element, and my Tribe. Make sure you don't speak ill of my people or my element again." Her eyes, like cold fire, bore into the terrified man's face before she turned on her heel and strode off the set, with Zuko rushing to follow her.

* * *

A few days later, Katsu issued a formal apology to the Fire Lady and her homeland. It may or may not have had something to do with his show being cancelled.


End file.
